Monday, April 26, 2021

My Backyard Sour Cherry Tree

My backyard sour cherry tree
Offering shade to the patio.
The spring sun wakens the tree
White blossoms dance
Choreographed by the wind.
White blossoms yield fruit
First pink, then plump red cherries.
The best are the highest.
The highest are the ripest.
The ripest are the choicest.
Leave those for the birds to imbibe,
Leave those for the birds to get drunk.
Pick, pull and put each cherry in your plastic.
A ladder will lead you to the lower branches. 
Pair them with peeled peaches.
Mason jars filled with the compote
Dancing quietly in the boiling water
Making far off winter’s welcome treat.
Now with years passing, 
The springtime white blossoms, 
The sumptuous sour cherries,
Only the memory remains.
The tree is a sad stump, 
A clothes line end rests on it,
Now damp clothes dance in the breeze.

Ethyl Haber
April 2021  
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